Midcoast Community Chorus debuts Sullivan 'Song'

Midcoast Community Chorus will perform the world premiere of “One Song at a Time,” an original composition by Maine-based musician Paul Sullivan, at two special January concerts. The commissioned piece musically captures MCC’s mission of singing as a community for the community and emphasizes the positive impact that each individual can bring to the world.

On Saturday, Jan. 12, MCC will perform at 7 p.m. at Peakes Auditorium at the Bangor High School, followed by a concert Sunday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m. in the Strom Auditorium of Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport. Special guests Sullivan and Theresa Thomason will join the chorus and accompanist Sean Fleming to weave a choral tapestry of gospel, spiritual, international and folk music.

The program promises to be a joyful celebration through song to uplift the spirit. Mimi Bornstein, founder and artistic director of MCC, is well known for presenting strong combinations of music that highlight the power of peace, transformation and healing. An already dynamic experience should be even more powerful with the addition of two world-famous master musicians.

Sullivan is a distinguished pianist, composer, musical director and Grammy Award-winning member of the Paul Winter Consort. His signature jazz style infuses the new piece “One Song at a Time,” and audience members will be treated to his piano playing on numerous pieces. Gospel singer Thomason has toured worldwide, been the featured soloist with the Paul Winter Consort for more than two decades and has performed at the Vatican and for the Dalai Lama. Thomason infuses each song with the true spirit of the lyrics when she sings.

The upcoming collaboration serendipitously traces back to MCC’s formative years and the 2004 fundraiser performance of Paul Winter’s “Missa Gaia” to benefit Tanglewood Camp in Lincolnville. In 2011, the chorus performed the earth mass with the Paul Winter Consort and Thomason, first locally and then at St. John the Divine in New York City.

Tickets for the Bangor concert are $15, general admission, and available through rivermusic.com. For the Strom concert, general admission ($15) tickets are available at HAV II in Camden, Grasshopper Shop in Rockland and The Green Store in Belfast. Reserved seating ($30 center orchestra; $22 side orchestra) and credit card sales are available by calling 975-0582 or sending email to info@mccsings.org.

Midcoast Community Chorus is a non-auditioned, multi-generational chorus established in 2008 that consistently draws 120 to 140 choristers each semester. The last six MCC concerts have been complete sellouts, confirming that Bornstein is not alone in her philosophy that music builds community and “When we sing we change who we are, and when we change who we are, we change the world … one song at a time.”